Display rack



Patenfed June s, 1954 i f 2,680,522

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,680,522 DISPLAY RACK Harold F. Temple, Garden City, N. Y., assigner to P. Lorillard Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 5, 1951, Serial No. 259,920 1 Claim. (Cl. 211-85) This invention relates to display racks and supported in double columns Il, l2, i3, I4 and more particularly to racks for holding columns of 5, with their ends contained in a common 'ver- A popular method of merchandizing packaged respective double columns are supported by lower products involves the displaying of the products shelf portions lla, I2a, i3d, Ma and ld, and each so that the purchaser may himself select and column is divided byi extract a desired product from among the selec- IIb, I2b, I3b, Mb and ib. If desired, one or tion offered. In the case of self-service displays more of the columns may be subdivided, as by for cartons of cigarettes, the arrangement a shelf portion E50, for example. should be such that each of the several brands The unit is comprised of a back portion I, offered is identifiable. Further, the cartons side portions ll and I8, and a front or column the remaining cartons. of the cartons. The cartons C in the lower To this end the present invention provides an halves of the respective columns may be idenimproved display rack for cigarette cartons and tied by name plates (not shown) received in vide a framework which is light in weight and upper halves may be identied by means of relatively inconspicucus, but which is capable name plates received in holders 2l. If desired, a

of supporting a large supply of cigarette cartons. large holder 22 for a display-identifying sign The rack is arranged, according to the invenmay be supported at the top of the rack.

supported without the use of special tools or are attached, as by welding, soldering or the complicated fasteners. The front divider is preflike, to a series of vertical members Ell, also erably supported by the side portions in a posiformed of wire. The outermost vertical memtion to afford additional support for the shelves. m bers 211 may be extended upwardly to support The basic structure is such that shelves may be the sign holder 22 and name plate holder 2l. provided in suiiicient numbers to accommodate A diagonal member 25 may be attached tothe cartons of a large number of cigarette brands, back portion for purposes of rigidity.

each brand having one or more of its own shelves Each of the side portions il and I3 is comto avoid the necessity of stacking cartons of one prised of an inverted, U-shaped wire frame 26 brand directly on too of cartons of another brand. having depending Vertical limbs or members 25a a preferred form of the invention and taken in of the vertical members 26a is formed atits deconjunction with the accompanying drawing in pending end with a foot portion 26h and a series whic of horizontal or transverse members 2l' are at- Figure 1 is a View, in perspective, of a portion tached to the vertical members. Supplementary of a display rack unit in a stage of assembly; frame portions 28 may be secured within the Figure 2 is a front divider portion adapted to 45 side portions l1 and I8 to provide reinforcement be combined with the portion of Fig. 1 to form and, if desired, to provide side panels for holda complete unit; ing additional signs. Certain of the horizontal Figure 3 is a view, in perspective, of a commembers 21 underlie and certain overlie the hingplete and assembled unit; and ing loops 23a of the back portion I6 so that the Figure 4 is a View, in perspective, correspond- 50 latter is secured against vertical movement.

ing to Fig. 3, but showing the unit lled with Hingedly attached to the lower horizontal cartons for display purposes. member 23 of the back portion I6 is a lower shelf Referring to Figure 4, the invention is shown assembly including the individual shelf portions in the form of a wire rack l0 for supporting a Ha i511. Attached to an intermediate horiplurality of cigarette cartons C, the cartons being zontal member 23 is the intermediate shelf assembly comprising the shelf portions lib lib. The shelf portions are comprised of a number of hinging members 29, the inner ends of which are looped about the horizontal members 23 of the back portion and the outer ends of which are attached to a pair of horizontal supporting members 39. Opposite ends of the horizontal members 3U are formed with downwardly opening hooks 38a. The individual shelf portions lla a and lib 15b are attached to the horizontal members 3Q and comprise U- shaped elements, the closed ends of which are upturned to form vertical barriers for defining the positions of the lowermost cartons or for supporting name plate holders if such are used. The single shelf portion 15o may be hingedly attached directly to a back member 23.

The unit is completed by means of the column dividing portion i9 which comprises three horizontal or transverse members 3i formed at their respective ends with downwardly opening hooks 31a. The horizontal members are joined lby a series of vertical members 32 which are spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the width of a double column. fi support 32a, may be provided at the bottom of the dividing portion to assist in handling and assembling.

The unit is assembled by swinging the side portions Il and i8 forwardly so that the dividing portion I9 may rest, means of its hooks tia, on certain of the horizontal members 21 of the side portions. The lower and intermediate shelf portions are at the same time swung downwardly to rest on the horizontal members 3i of the dividing portion le and also so that the hooks Sila thereof may engage horizontal members 21 of the side portions. Wire guides 33 may be attached to the side portions to set the position of the divider at apoint spaced slightly rearwardly of the forward ends of the shelf portions. The hinged, single shelf portion itc, which subdivides the right hand column into three parts, is supported by means of a shoulder 35i attached to one of the upright members 32 of the divider portion and by a second shoulder 35 attached to the side portion il.

The unit may be knocked down by detaching the dividing portion i3, swinging the shelf portions upwardly 99 degrees and swinging the side portions back surface of the oa-cl; portion lli. A flat unit results which may be conveniently shipped, stored and the like. it will be understood that the unit may be quickly assembled without the use of special tools or clamping natures into a light-weight, rigid, rjuadrilateral structure having a plurality of shelf portions for supporting columns of packaged articles, such as cartons of cigarettes, for example.

The cartons are stacked as best seen in Fig. 4 in double columns which are so divided by the vertical members 32 that a large number of different brands may be accommodated and so that a carton of any particular brand may be readily extracted by a purchaser.

it will be understood that the width of certain of the shelf portions may Ibe increased to accommodate cartons for large size cigarettes. Furbaekwardly 270 degrees to engage the r ther, the number of shelves provided may be widely varied to suit particular needs. The invention should not, therefore, be limited save as described by the following claim:

I claim:

A collapsible display rack comprising a pair of side portions having their respective peripheries defined by a wire bent into an inverted U configuration in which the depending ends of the vertical limbs are upturned to form foot-portions for the raclr, transverse supporting members bridging the vertical limbs, a back portion comg a plurality of vertically spaced-apart horizontal wire members, the respective ends of at least some of which are looped about the rearmost vertical limbs of the respective side portions, whereby the side portions may be swung between an inactive position in the plane of the Ihack portion and an active position normal to the plane of the back portion, a diagonal member and a plurality of vertical members attached to the horizontal members of the back. portion, a plurality of shelf portions pivotally attached to horizontal members of the baci; portion and adapted to be swung between horizontal and vertical planes, said shelf portions including a plurality of hinging members having their ends looped about horizontal members of the back portion, a plurality of horizontal shelf members joined to said hinging members and having downwardly opening hook portions formed on opposite ends thereof to engage the transverse supporting members of said side portions, a plurality of U-shaped shelf members attached to said horizontal shelf members and adapted to project forwardly in cantilever fashion beyond the forwardly disposed vertical limbs of the side portions, upturned end portions on said U-shaped shelf members, ing the side portions in their active positions, for affording additional support for said shelf portions and for defining product receiving columns, said front portion comprising a plurality of vertically spaced-apart horizontal wire members and a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart vertically disposed wire members, said horizontai members being formed with downwardly opening hook portions to attach to the supporting members of said side portions, whereby said horizontal wire members of the front portion underlie the shelf portions at points spaced inwardly from the upturned end portions of the U- shaped members of the shelf portions, said assembled rack being adapted to support product containers and the like stacked on said respective shelf portions in columns defined by the vertically disposed members of the front portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS Number Name 'Date D.162,397 Fink Mar. 13, 1951 1,959,454 Eiescar May 22, 1934 1,986,078 Spang Jan. l, 1935 2,100,548 Maxin Nov. 30, 1937 2,239,433 Cooks Apr. 22, 1941 lill-1,490 Goldman Ivlar. 23, i943 2,315,595 Chappory Pipr. 3, 1943 

